Itchy&Scratchy

About drinks.... There was no consistency at all when it came to specialty coffee or mixed drinks... Every person made it differently, and I had to come back to get more syrup or more sweet&sour mix or Sprite in mine... I am very partial to Vanilla Bean latte (iced) on Princess ships, but I gave other latte flavors a chance as well. I still came back to my favorite. My parents love coffee, so they got quite a few of mochas, lattes and cappuccinos as well. Hot only. Even my DH got on the mocha train. 🙂 We frequented the International cafe, the Princess Live cafe and the Bistro cafe (inside the buffet bistro). Word of advice - they have lids for hot coffees, but none for the iced. Thankfully, I brought my own insulated tumbler with a lid. 🙂 I also tried a few alcoholic drinks. We don't drink at all, so it takes one to two drinks for me personally to be inebriated , especially on an empty stomach. Since we had a package on this cruise, I consumed a little more than 1-2 drinks per day, but never got beyond 5, even when my mom's wine or DH's drinks were also charged to my folio. It was fun, I must admit, to try different things. I got a bit more adventurous since I didn't have to pay per drink. In many cases, it was a good thing I had a package because I disliked more drinks than I liked. 😞 Mostly, because many of them had too much alcohol and weren't sweet enough for me. To give you a point of reference, Dunes and Mojitos are my favorite mixed drinks. Dirty Banana is excellent as well, but has too much sugar. I still have to watch it... DH likes mixed drinks as well, but they don't have to be sweet like mine. He is ok with the taste of alcohol in his alcoholic drinks. 🙂 He does like mojitos a lot. So, here are some pics and names of the drinks we tried: Baked Alaska (vanilla vodka, raspberry, creme de cacao) - good, but too strong One of our favorites is the Ultimate Cooler (the adult version) and the Key West Cooler (the kid version). we spent a lot of time in the area in front of the Crown Grill bar and tried some things off of their menu. I think one of them is a Hemingway's martini and another is a Lemon Drop. Dh also tried a Sidecar and a Cable Car? This lovely looking drink is from the Good spirits bar: DH said he could definitely taste the licorice. Several years ago I tried a Vanilla sky and I think it was pretty good: I think what I got at the Catch by Rudi was this purple Butterfly beauty which didn't taste as magical as it looked. JamieLogical posted some drink menus in her review, so when I saw O'malley's menu, I knew I wanted to try some things. 🙂 I asked DH to order me a Kenmare's Kiss, but the bartender heard Clover Breeze. Clover Breeze was weird. It tasted nothing like the ingredients it lists. Instead, it tasted like someone chopped up ALL of the herbs in their garden, soaked them in vodka and thus made a tincture out of it. DH tried their Under the Mango Tree, and even though it was strong, he liked it. We had Ultimate coolers, mojitos, lemon drops, Dunes (aka Hawaiian Tropics), Sweet Annie from Bellini bar (it's not sweet at all!), etc. My mom tried a few red wines. Our favorite drink was from Princess Live cafe/bar and it was a special drink "I Love Me" made by bartender Snizhana (Zana). It was $20, and it was delicious. Many bars had a placard with the bartender's special drink, but hers was the one that called to our hearts, and, boy, it was wonderful. I didn't snap a pic of the recipe, but if you stop by, you will see it. It's light and citrusy.

don't know what that is, we are not from CA. Don't want beans, though.

I usually don't pay any attention to the sides because I won't eat most of them anyway, unless it's broccoli/zucchini/asparagus/green beans, polenta or baked/mashed potato. So, if a spoonful of beans arrives on a plate with a steak, I won't even notice. But this was just wrong: the beans look like they came straight out of an industrial size can:

on RCI and Princess alike, you can order several apps, mains and desserts. How they are brought out depends on the waiter and their instructions. On RCI some are instructed to bring one thing at a time, but if you ask nicely, they'll bring out all apps or mains at once. On this cruise, since we got the same waiter for nights 3-6, and he was new and willing to do whatever WE wanted, we asked him to bring all the appetizers out at once and then all the mains at once as well, and he obliged.

Main courses (Secondi Piatti) at Sabatini: Both Dad and I ordered the chicken: chicken was delicate and the flavor was very good DS ordered a Duo di Parma pizza instead of a Secondi Piatti: it was large and good, but by that time he was already full (despite his small adult size, this kid eats like a bird), so he only ate one slice and the rest went to waste. I regret not packing it up in a doggie bag for the next day since we traveled home): Both DH and mom ordered the branzino. Funny, but DH thought he was ordering a vegetarian dish because he didn't realize branzino was a fish. Surprise! He didn't exactly like his. Mom liked hers very much. And the best part of our dinner - fantastic desserts! OMG! Mom and I ordered the sampler which is the last item on the menu and is called Chef's Specialty: each one of these desserts was unbelievable. So delicious! If you are not sure, get the sampler - it's stunning. Right behind the sampler is a Limoncello spritzer the waitress recommended to me. Now, it wasn't sweet enough for me either, but the flavor was amazing and unusual, I've never had anything like that before. DS ordered a Rocher: basically, a giant Ferrero Rocher. Super yummy, if you like Ferrero Rocher. We ordered a Vanilla Panna Cotta for dad, since the waiter said it had little sugar in it. It was wonderful - creamy, light, just the right sweetness, great flavor. True to himself, DH ordered a tiramisu: it was great.

Since I am on lunch break, I might as well quickly cover our last night dinner, which was at Sabatini's. Since MDR menus are now available in the app only on the day of, it was very difficult to schedule a specialty dinner on the day when we found MDR offerings to be not as desirable. The last day rolled around, I looked at the MDR menu and I was like - well, it's now or never. Well, Sabatini's was full, they said, but I could talk to the manager and, maybe, she could get us in (since there are 5 of us). The manager - a lovely lady named Alice - was very accommodating and, indeed, made a reservation for us at 5. A little early, but she assured us that since the dinner is very long, we weren't gonna be done by 6 anyway. She was right. We showed up at exactly 5 and were immediately seated and offered the menus and served the arancini balls. I ordered a Rossini for myself and a chianti for my mom. Rossini wasn't sweet enough for me... Some of us started with a soup or a salad, I got none. The following appetizers were delightful: Panzanella Salumi and Formaggi Misti (salami and cheese) and Fritto Misto Alla Veneziana (I had this one - nom-nom): Followed by Primo Piatti: Mom ordered the risotto, but, unfortunately, it was extremely salty (I tried it and I concur), so she switched with dad, who ordered seafood linguini: Seafood linguini was great: Both DH and DS ordered the Sphaghetti Polpette which had one giant meatball (fork for scale), which was "the best my DS has had": and I ordered pasta alla carbonara (I can't help myself) after questioning the waiter and making sure it was nothing like the MDR version: it wasn't. It had a strong egg and bacon flavor, and it was scrumptious.

Cool! We were on Enchanted in Nov 2022 as well (not repo), and the food was better then. I already booked Enchanted for next May as well. We tried MSC Seascape last year, and unless the cruise is almost free, we are not planning to sail in steerage class with MSC any time soon. The only saving grace was the drink package and the entertainment. I don't actually recall the entertainment, but the drink package was good (especially since I scored it for $90 pp for the entire week). We are trying Carnival this November. Fingers crossed. We tried Celebrity this spring and loved it, so we are going to do 2 more with X next year. Both food and entertainment were great.

it was not impossible to cut, but it was not exactly great. Very average. I could chew through it, but it was a little more well done than I would have liked. Must see - Rock Opera and Spotlight Bar, even if you've seen them before. If you've seen 5Skies before, you can skip it, but we enjoyed watching it again. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd definitely go. My kid watched it once in 2022 and he didn't quite care for it, although I thought the gaming aspect would tug at his heart strings, but it didn't. It's fun and has more or less modern music and dancing in it. The first night's comedy juggler Steven Ragatz act was just ok. A lot of people on this sailing's FB page were less than happy with this show. If there is anything else scheduled during this time that you think you may like, skip the juggler act. Our kid liked it. There was a different juggler/dancer Lianna Hay in the Piazza doing short shows - she was fun to watch. We skipped guest vocalist Jassen Allen's show, he was singing Lionel Richie's hits. I guess it's not our thing. The Gold Strings duo of violin players was great. They were in a Piazza quite often and in some of the production shows. Celtic music players were great at O'Malley's. JamieLogical covered them and smaller musical venues in detail in her May Enchanted review. We somehow never ended up in Take 5 to see any jazz performances. As a matter of fact, I don't remember a single thing scheduled there. Comedy magic with Jason Bird was kind of lame. We've seen much better performances before. We did not see the evening Farewell Variety show in the theater. We had to pack and we were tired. But we did see an afternoon Princess World Orchestra show in the Piazza earlier that day and it was fun. Karaoke and games looked and sounded fun. I am sure you'd appreciate the comedy shows in smaller venues.

True. And that's why I said - to each his own. Thank goodness, we haven't been on a $4K cruise yet.

Gala dinner, 6th night, MDR Would definitely recommend. 🙂 Cured salmon appetizer was terrific: an amazing combination of textures and tastes. Should have had two. 🙂 I also had Escargot, but didn't take a pic. I like Celebrity's and RCI's escargot better - theirs is more like butter, garlic and parsley, and Princess has more spices in theirs, which I like less. I didn't like the seafood bisque, most likely because of the tomato base. I don't like tomato sauces or soups. Other than that, it was good. DS had the ravioli and they were simple, but very good: DH had the duck and it was ok: it definitely looked better than last time DH also ordered the surf and turf, and the funny man that he is, he asked for it without the lobster.... Lol. I said - absolutely not, I will eat his lobster. 🙂 There is a $10 charge for an additional steak/lobster. Sooo... this was his: and this was mine: My parents both had the snapper and the mushroom crepes, which were all amazing: I also had the crepes, and yes, they were definitely wonderful. Dad enjoyed his sugar free cherry trifle: And DH ordered a pistachio dome: and then we went to the buffet to have Nutella crepes. 🙂 Which are the best, but weren't offered every night. Why, Princess? Why???? Please, we beg you - every day!

Day 5 dinner MDR This was by far the best dinner of the week. Well, for me personally. 🙂 Seafood Vol-Au-Vent was flaky, creamy and delicious: This was Oxtail soup! I didn't realize it would arrive encrusted in bread, although "En Croute" should have been a hint. Dad really liked it. And it was an unusual presentation. 🙂 A salad is a salad. Mom liked it. Now, the STAR of the show! My absolute favorite twice baked goat cheese souffle! It used to be an appetizer, but now it's an entree. Weird, because the size is the same, and since they are small, I ordered two. OMG! Still the best. My parents also had one each and loved it. Mom also had salmon (very good as always): And dad had the rack of lamb, which was amazing (if you like lamb): DH really enjoyed his beef wellington: DS loved Fettuccine Alfredo (and what's not to love? it's great!): and I also ordered the pasta alla carbonara special of the day, but unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the flavor: it had an unusual flavor, which is hard to describe, but it was neither the cream and bacon flavor, nor egg and bacon flavor. I didn't even finish it... Oddly enough, DS didn't like the chocoholic cheesecake, so we finished it for him. French vanilla creme brulee was scrumptious:

we never even got to it on this cruise. Wanted to go to O'Malleys but the line was pretty long every time, and we would have wanted it for lunch only. We did get some interesting drinks at that bar, which I will cover later. Long lines at Gigi's as well, but nobody wanted to go there anyway. On port days we didn't need lunch because we were off the ship having fun, and there were only 2 sea days, and just not enough time in them to fit all the eating venues into. 🙂 It's ok, though. We never ate at Gigi/Alfredo's when it was free. sounds like you stayed on the ship on port days. Unless we have a dinner at 5 at one of them and a late dinner at 9 at another, there is no way we could eat there twice a day on port days. We didn't even manage once a day because we eat dinners at MDR. we don't want to share when there are 5 of us, because my parents don't speak English and would feel completely left out if we were seated with English speaking strangers. When there are 3 of us, we wouldn't mind sharing a table with someone else, since we all speak English. But with MTD, it's kind of difficult to arrive at the same time with another party, also willing to share... And sometimes sharing a table goes comically wrong. Many years ago an elderly lady dominated the conversation at a table for 10 for the entire dinner, not letting anyone else get a word in... The rest of the tablemates immediately asked for a reassignment when dinner ended. that's awful. It was like that for us in 2022 on Enchanted - we somehow ended up at the same table every night, and the service was horribly slow. We even involved the dining room manager. thank you! We have to get my DH a prescription mask or contacts, otherwise, he is pretty blind without his glasses. We've been thinking about doing that for a while, just never got around to ordering them.

I totally realize it because I was extremely poor when I immigrated to the US. Same with my future DH - very poor when he came to the States. No vacations for us for many years. We are good now, but the humble beginnings are never forgotten. Even poor people need vacations. Do you not see the difference between needing something and not being able to afford it?

Hmmm, not exactly an apples to apples comparison. We are talking about buying a Premier package for the kids along with the parents, so please report after you burn $240-320 in your fire pit. 🙂

well, I dunno, we all need a vacation, otherwise, we'd burn out. And as far as vacations with food go, cruising is actually better and cheaper than doing it a la cart elsewhere.

4th night MDR dinner Eggplant Parmesan was very good: Seafood antipasto salad was great: Prosciutto and melon salad was wonderful: Minestrone soup was good: Bellini soup was fabulous: DS had Mama's lasagna and it was wonderful: Grilled rockfish was delicious: DH also opted for the $19 filet mignon, which was "very good" according to him, and amazing according to me (I had a bite and it melted in my mouth, and the sauce was actually really good, probably, because it was mushroomy, and I love mushrooms). I opted for the free striploin steak, sans chianti sauce, but it would have been better if it hadn't been served with beans. Ugh. I should have gotten the filet mignon. Sauteed shrimp and scallops were amazing! Tiramisu was great! But the lemon meringue cheesecake was better (as good as the last time): I hated the amaretto creme brulee (I shouldn't have ordered it because I don't like almond flavor, so somebody else might find it delish): and the sugar free mochaccino semi-freddo was very good:

correct. The service was super slow.... it took us over 2 hours to finish dinner, with 20 minute involuntary breaks between dishes. We got a different waiter for the rest of the cruise, and he was a newbie who was trying very hard, so our dinners lasted 1-1.5 hours, especially when we told him we had a show to catch.

Third day MDR dinner I forgot to preface my food review with my usual full disclosure: I am a glutton and love pretty much all food, except for onions, celery, blue cheese and beans. On cruises I prefer beef and seafood. DH has a more refined palette, he is not a glutton, and on cruises he prefers fish, followed by beef. DS is into familiar favorites, loves pasta and caesar salads. Our favorite restaurant at home is Longhorn. DH also cooks and grills at home, and his dishes are usually mouthwatering. Please adjust your expectations accordingly. 🙂 Everybody got potstickers and liked them very much. They were just your regular potstickers. Crab and corn chowder was good. Mom enjoyed the Asian salad: DS loved spaghetti bolognese: Fish and chips were unremarkable, but filling: Yummy pasta alfredo is still the best: Ribs were fatty, but juicy and flavorful: We didn't see any desserts we liked, so we didn't order any.

Second day MDR dinner Crabcakes were excellent, as always We all love gnocchi, especially my DH. So, we all got them. They were good, but not as good as the last time. DH complained that they didn't have enough potato taste, but I am all about the sauce, and it was good. The portion was smaller than I remember. I am very particular about my beef dishes and do not like gravy, jus, sauce, glace, demi-glace or anything else on the beef. I always get it plain and medium. The tenderloin was tender and delicious. The red snapper at MDR was much better than at Rudi's. To my dismay, Princess chose to serve beans with a LOT of MDR entrees this year. It was strange. And I hate beans. My parents also opted for always available salmon and it was great: Mmmm, dessert... Dad opted for sugar-free semolina tart and apparently it was pretty good: Chocolate hazelnut bar was superb as always. This is my favorite. Lychee Rose mousse. I don't know... I didn't taste much lychee which I love. peach Melba was yummy:

also forgot to say - Catch by Rudi also had a separate drink menu, but, unfortunately, I didn't snap a photo of it, so I can't remember what drink I ordered. It was super pretty, but I hated it.

in the words of my husband it tasted like dirt/mud, not spices

DH, DS and my dad ordered the Catch of the day. Dad gobbled it up (he'll eat anything, so...), but DH and DS didn't like theirs. I don't even remember who ate DS's red snapper. Filip also brought out all of the side dishes to share: Fingerling potatoes were fabulous, everybody really liked ratatouille as well (I didn't try it), buck choy was good (it's not even on the menu), parmesan fries were great, but all of us thought the cauliflower puree was weird. It didn't taste good (nothing like cauliflower which the whole family loves) and the consistency was rather thin. The fancy dessert was the highlight of everyone's experience: Mom and I ordered a lovely strawberry Pavlova: my mom super-duper loves meringue We ordered Berries for dad: DH had a fantastic and gargantuan Berry Composition souffle, and everybody got to try a bit of it, and there was still so much of it left: it's huge! and DS got a wonderful Rudi's Artistic face:

Onto the food!!!! The most important part of sailing with Princess for us is the food. My DH and I were a little disappointed in the offerings this time compared to our Nov 22 Enchanted sailing. Our kid was fine either way. My parents are just happy to cruise. We both felt that the offerings were not as numerous, varied or great. Our biggest disappointment was with the specialty dinner. Prior to this cruise we never tried specialty dining, in part because it's expensive, and in part because MDR and buffet offerings on Princess in general and on Enchanted in particular have always been great. Since we had a Premier package, we all got 2 specialty dinners. Our DS has been on a sushi streak lately and was really looking forward to unlimited sushi (casual dining) on Enchanted, but every time I offered to go to Ocean Terrace, he refused to go. Just didn't feel like it, I guess. So, on our first night I managed to score a reservation at the Catch by Rudi for all 5 of us. We had a lovely dinner, but neither my DH, nor DS liked their catch of the day entree (red snapper). Well, it was expected in DS's case, because he doesn't like seafood and didn't even want to go to the Catch by Rudi, but I was surprised that DH was very disappointed in his chosen entree. He loves fish and makes great fish dishes at home. Our waiter was Filip, who was wonderful and attentive. Free prosecco was brought out for all of us (except the kid). This spread was brought out before the appetizers, and it was delicious: you are supposed to mix it all together and then spread it on a baguette. We really loved our appetizers. 4 of us ordered the crabcakes and loved it (a little spicy): Mom ordered Tale of Citrus and loved it as well: For the main course, I ordered Triple S Platter and enjoyed it: I must say that it looked rather unusual with that creature hanging above the plate: My mom ordered Sole ala Minute and loved it, especially the presentation and the fileting by the table:

Belize We haven't been in Belize since our very first cruise back in 2009. We did cave tubing that time, and after some ports of call research, we decided to do it again. Of course, my dad is in no shape to walk through the jungle, so we left him on the ship. We bought the tour through Butts Up, saving $10 pp by booking a couple of weeks in advance. So, the price for cave tubing alone was $40 pp, which included a small lunch at the end. All in all, totally worth the money. They also had tours which included both ziplining and cave tubing, but it's for healthy and fit people, which we are most definitely not. Their email instructions differed from the order confirmation, so we split the difference and decided to show up at 8:30 am. Ship arrived at 7 local time. I got the tender tickets on my way to breakfast (ended up with group 7), so when we were done with breakfast and ready to get on the tender boat, we were waved right onto the tender. It departed soon after, and we were onshore at exactly 8:30. It took another 5 minutes to find and follow the signs to Terminal 1 exit. We were taken to the bus (a short walk) right away, but told that we were still waiting for another group. We took a picture with the Belize sign and got on the bus, which departed immediately. I was a bit surprised, but we just drove around town for about 15 minutes, accompanied by an interesting narration and arrived back in port to pick up the group we were waiting for. After an hour long drive, full of music and instructions, we finally arrived at the preserve. Do apply sunblock to exposed parts in advance. Do wear a hat if you are pale/burn easily and don't want skin cancer. You can tuck the hat into your swimsuit or shirt later. The tour guides said that the jungle walk was going to be completely in the shade and that we would only get some sun at the end of the tour, and not to bring any hats. NOT TRUE! The entire walk was in the sun. It was awfully hot and sunny, and the air was full of smoke due to wildfires. At least we didn't have to haul our own tubes on the walk, only helmets and life vests. When you get your helmet, make sure it fits your head. Oh, and, apparently, they are required to provide you with a helmet, but you are not required to wear it while tubing. If you want a fun, talkative, "crazy" guide for your tubing experience, do not pick Felix. If you are ok with a quiet guide with minimum talk, Felix is the guide for you. We didn't get to pick, though, and simply went with whatever guide took our tubes down the river. The cave tubing was a very good excursion. At the end you float a little through the jungle, and it's just so beautiful and serene... I brought my phone in one of those water-proof pockets, and unfortunately it overheated once we got out of the caves and floated through the jungle in full sun. No worries, it just had to shut down, but it still works. After the tubing part, we drove for a couple of minutes to a different location and had a small lunch - a small chicken tamale per person. Small by American and cruise standards, and not small by any other standards. The tamale was very flavorful and not too spicy. Even my mom could eat it. My kid ate his as well (he is not very open to trying new things) and liked it. They warn you to let your picky eaters try YOUR tamale first before unwrapping their own, because if they don't like it, they can exchange their unopened tamale for a more bland food choice. Maybe, chips and guac? They also had nice hot sauce available for your tamales, and my DH and other people really liked it. You can bring your drinks with you (we brought water and some coke in a Contigo tumbler) or you can buy them - local Fanta and Coke/Sprite and some beers. We then drove back to the port and arrived way before the last tender boat was scheduled to depart. We had a great time, and for my mom it was a once in a lifetime experience. Some photos from the jungle part of the tubing. Please understand that all the photos were taken "blindly" since it was so bright outside, I couldn't see anything on my phone screen. as we are exiting the caves

Cozumel We were docked in Puerta Maya this time, so the taxi for 5 people was $60 each way to Playa Palancar, our go to beach location in Cozumel. While the taxi was more expensive, to my surprise we didn't have to wait for an hour in a very long taxi line like we did during our last visit to Cozumel at a different port (whichever one MSC docked at). We walked out and the taxi was immediately available to us. Playa Palancar now charges $20 entrance fee per person. At least this time they gave us a tiny welcome drink which didn't taste like it had any alcohol in it and didn't give us any buzz. A little steep for a beach day, IMHO. However, DH is absolutely enamored with this beach club due to its beautiful beach and waterline. I used to like it because it was inexpensive, pay as you go, with a nice sandy beach for the kid (when he used to play in the sand) with umbrellas and loungers. I still like it because it's exactly what we want in terms of a beach break. You also get loungers and umbrellas for the fee. Since we got there early enough, I think we were first to arrive, so we got to choose from all the loungers. These photos are from a couple of years ago, but it still looks the same. Still no wifi. Large margaritas and daiquiries are $12-17, and non-alcoholic ones are $7. Last time I got a mango daiquiri, DH got a mango-strawberry margarita, and DS got a mango/strawberry smoothie. Yummy as always. This time we were a bit hungry, so we ordered fish tacos for me, chicken tacos for the DS and cheese nachos for DH, and the food was actually good. $9-12 each. And unlike in Costa Maya, there were 3 tacos per order (in Costa Maya - 2 tacos per order). Do not touch the wildlife, unless you want to get expensive rabies shots. Plus, the racoons and cats on the premises looked very sickly this time and had what looked like ringworm or a similar dermatological affliction.